{"id":1457,"date":"2016-08-15T09:01:23","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T08:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/?p=1457"},"modified":"2016-08-15T09:01:23","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T08:01:23","slug":"mondaymaterials-episode-24-dr-steve-edmondson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/materials-blog\/2016\/08\/15\/mondaymaterials-episode-24-dr-steve-edmondson\/","title":{"rendered":"#MondayMaterials Episode 24 – Dr Steve Edmondson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi all. #MondayMaterials<\/a> is back. Thanks for your patience during a busy period caused by holidays and jam-packed schedules.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here now, though. And Steve Edmondson, a member of the Polymers, Composites and Carbon Research Group<\/a>, was definitely worth the wait:<\/p>\n

Hi Steve. Thanks for talking to us. Could you please describe your research, for the layman, in ten sentences or less?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/oBJZnyRGnps<\/p>\n

So I use chemistry to make and modify polymers or plastics or macromolecules. And I also use chemistry to modify the properties of surfaces. And actually, there\u2019s the overlap of those two things as well. I use chemistry to modify surfaces by attaching polymers and polymer coatings to them.<\/p>\n

\"Steve
Steve in the lab!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is important because, very often, we want to separate out the bulk properties of a material (is it strong, is it stiff?) from the surface properties (how does it interact with the environment?).<\/p>\n

And being able to make and modify polymers myself gets me involved in all sorts of different areas. In particular, a big one at the moment is 3D printing. With some 3D printing techniques, you actually do chemistry within the machine to make solid polymer objects.<\/p>\n

And how can your research benefit the public?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Modifying surfaces is very important because the surface of a material is how it interacts with the environment; with the outside world. For example, with a material that\u2019s going inside the body you might want the material to be able to respond to that in a certain way. Or to be able to ignore it completely.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re blending two different things together to make a composite, if we\u2019re putting graphene into a polymer for example, modifying the surface of the particles that we\u2019re putting in, we can control whether they mix well or whether they clump together.<\/p>\n

Making new types of materials for 3D printing is very important because 3D printing, or additive manufacturing to give it its proper name, really needs to progress beyond the point where we\u2019re just making prototypes or parts to look at. We need materials that have good properties or have functional properties. And being able to inject a bit of chemistry thinking is really important for developing that technology.<\/p>\n

Sounds exciting, Steve. So how did you first get interested in your research area?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So I come, originally, from a chemistry background. I was really interested in chemistry at school. And for my degree I did a Natural Scientist specialising in Chemistry, and the real sort of detailed chemistry that, let\u2019s say, a pharmaceutical company would use to make new drug molecules. That\u2019s a real intellectual challenge \u2013 chemistry has this toolbox of chemical reactions people use to make things.<\/p>\n

But, with apologies to my colleagues who work in this area, the practical side of doing organic chemistry is quite repetitive. It\u2019s using only a few techniques, mostly purifying things. Whereas when I had the opportunity to move into materials, polymer chemistry, for my PhD, it looked like you had the opportunity to work on a much wider range of techniques. You use lots of different characterisation tools, lots of bits of equipment. You use chemistry and science from all across the spectrum. And that really appealed to me.<\/p>\n

Going back a bit further, then, could you tell us who or what first inspired your interest in science?<\/strong><\/h3>\n